00:00Solar energy systems are being installed in nearly 29,000 homes across 10 departments in Colombia.
00:06What might seem like good news has a very important catch.
00:11The budgets for those contracts have quotes that exceed the others by a considerable margin.
00:16the prices at which solar panels are sold on the market today.
00:21Although the Ministry of Mines and Energy says that no alerts have been raised regarding cost overruns in these projects,
00:26At El Espectador we reviewed the details of these budgets and there are several things that don't add up.
00:33But before I tell you more details, if you want to know the full investigation,
00:37Write your news here in the comments and we'll send you the link via direct message.
00:41The country expected that by July 31, six days before Gustavo's presidential term ended
00:48Petro,
00:48More than 2,200 energy communities will be installed in Colombia.
00:52The project is being implemented through 17 contracts totaling 914 billion pesos.
00:59and that the Ministry of Mines and Energy signed with three public utility companies in Colombia,
01:04Gensa, Electrocaquetá and Dispac.
01:07All projects requested an extension to their contracts to complete their execution by December 31, 2026.
01:14The issue is that, to date, most have not exceeded 50% implementation and are experiencing delays in
01:20the expected progress.
01:21But that's not the only striking thing about these contracts.
01:24IPSE, a state institute that monitors the prices of certain products for energy projects,
01:31such as solar panels, it assures that between September and December 2025,
01:36the same period in which the energy community projects were formulated,
01:41The prices of solar panels ranged between approximately 420,000 and 614,000 pesos, depending on the capacity.
01:49But when consulting the project documents published on SECOP2, the State's procurement platform,
01:56There are quotes for solar panels that range between 505,000 and 890,000 pesos, also depending on their capacity.
02:04A considerable difference compared to the monitoring done by IPSE.
02:08Something else needs to be clarified. The prices in the quotes do not include the transport of the panels.
02:14including the regions where they are being installed, and the workforce needed to put them into operation.
02:21Several solar panel retailers we consulted agreed with the prices recorded by IPSE.
02:27by that time in 2025.
02:30Another way to measure the remarkable differences, according to three business executives.
02:35of companies dedicated to the sale and installation of solar energy systems in Colombia,
02:39These are the prices per watt of panel capacity.
02:43This price today can range between 500 pesos and 900 pesos per watt of capacity.
02:49However, the quotes for the 17 energy community contracts have prices that range between 919 and
02:581.717 pesos per watt.
03:01The Ministry of Mines and Energy assures that the projects were structured taking into account the cost per user.
03:07and not the unit prices of each product.
03:10In other words, the budgets were defined by establishing how much it cost to put things into operation
03:15a solar energy system in each of the 28,544 homes,
03:21but without specifying how much the solar panels would cost,
03:25the other materials they need to function and the labor required to install them.
03:31This is an argument on which Edwin Palma, former Minister of Mines and Energy, agrees.
03:36and Víctor Paternina, former Deputy Minister of Energy,
03:39the two officials who were in charge of signing these contracts in 2025.
03:43Although it is true that the projects were awarded taking into account the cost per user,
03:48The contracts do include a document detailing the unit costs,
03:53including those related to the purchase of solar panels.
03:56In total, the contracts involve the purchase of more than 60,000 solar panels.
04:00and most of these were priced above the prices that exist in the market today.
04:06And there's even a project in Putumayo that's included in its budget
04:11the cost of VAT even though solar panels are exempt from paying that tax.
04:16Of course, this is an investigation that has many more details.
04:20which is impossible to explain in a single video,
04:23But if you want to read the full report,
04:25Don't forget to visit the Environment section of El Espectador
04:28and follow us here, on all our social media.
04:31Thank you!
